Police received a call from Thacker's wife identifying the man seen in a surveillance video as her husband

January 3, 2000
Web posted at: 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 GMT)

In this story: Spree began in Oklahoma Car sighted outside motel RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Oklahoma man suspected in a three-state killing spree that left three people dead was in custody early Monday after being arrested Sunday in Tennessee, authorities told CNN.

Police captured 29-year-old Steven Ray Thacker on Sunday evening near Union City, Tennessee, about 105 miles northeast of Memphis. He was taken to nearby Dyersburg for questioning in killing of an area tow truck driver earlier in the day, a Dyersburg police spokeswoman said.

Thacker is also suspected in the stabbing deaths of an Oklahoma woman in December and a Missouri man on New Year's Day. Representatives of all three states were heading to Dyersburg to discuss whether to extradite Thacker or try him in Tennessee.

FBI officials are also involved in the case.

Spree began in Oklahoma

According to law enforcement officials, the killing spree began on December 23, when Laci Dawn Hill, 25, advertised a pool table for sale at her home near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thacker answered her ad. Hill's body was discovered in a cabin belonging to Thacker six days later.

A truck driver who towed Thacker's car was found stabbed to death in Tennessee on Sunday

Thacker became the main suspect after a surveillance video showed him using one of Hill's credit cards in his hometown of Chouteau, Oklahoma.

Springfield, Missouri, police found Thacker's abandoned white Pontiac Grand Am in a pharmacy parking lot on December 29. Witnesses at the scene said a man had carjacked a red Pontiac Grand Am: Police spotted the stolen car and gave chase, but the suspect escaped after crashing the vehicle about 40 miles north of Springfield.

On Saturday, investigators said, Thacker stole another car from a home in rural Polk County, Missouri -- about 20 miles north of Springfield -- and stabbed the owner, 24-year-old Forrest Boyd, to death. A credit card belonging to Boyd was used twice the following morning in Sikeston, Missouri.

Car sighted outside motel

Boyd's car apparently broke down in Dyersburg on Sunday, and police said Thacker called 52-year-old tow truck driver Ray Patterson for assistance. Patterson was found stabbed to death Sunday: Investigators determined about $1,600 had been stolen, along with 10 credit cards and a pistol.

Thacker was arrested without incident on Sunday after an officer noticed Boyd's car outside a Union City motel, Union City Police Chief Joe Garner said.

The suspect was registered under another name and had dyed his hair. He was walking out of a room with bags of trash when he was arrested.

CNN Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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